This invention relates to massage devices and methods and, more particularly, to novel apparatus and methods for use in providing aesthetic massages. Further still, the present invention relates generally to abrasion systems and methods for abrading a surface in a controlled manner and, more particularly, to a portable or adaptable microabrasion system that operates to perform dermabrasion in a controlled manner with improved efficiency, hygiene, and finish. The present invention also relates to a system and method that integrates both types of treatment in one convenient apparatus.
In the health and beauty industry there has been a great deal of interest in the use of massage and body contouring treatments for their therapeutic and cosmetic value. Massage and body contouring can provide such benefits as the increase of local blood circulation, and relief of minor muscle aches and pains. It has also been reported that such treatments may aid in reducing the appearance of cellulite, smoothing the skin and reducing girth. Moreover, patients find massage and body contouring treatments to be relaxing.
Traditionally massages are given by hand, usually by a masseuse who has received extensive training in various hand massage techniques. One technique known as petrissage is described as kneading, or lifting and rolling of the skin. For example, to perform the petrissage technique, the skin and surface muscles of the person receiving the massage can be gently grasped between the thumb and fingers with a pinching-like motion. Petrissage is reported as being stimulating to muscles and to circulation of the deeper blood vessels and lymphatics. Another hand massage technique called effleurage is described as a long, gliding or stroking, movement on the surface of the skin, often using, the entire, flat surface of the hand to stroke the skin. Effleurage is a soothing technique and is reported as increasing circulation and relaxation in patients. Other massage techniques include friction, tapotement, and vibration.
Massage treatments given by hand can be costly for the patient and tiring for the masseuse. In addition, manual manipulations are not typically capable of sustained massage of deep subdermal tissue layers. In an attempt to reduce the expense and effort required for hand massage, various mechanical massage and body contouring devices have been developed. These massage and body contouring devices imitate, to some degree, the manipulation of the skin, the direction or pattern of that manipulation and the pressure applied to the skin associated with various hand massage techniques. Thus, the aim of many massage and body contouring devices is to provide a patient with the same or similar type of massage as can be received by hand while reducing cost to the person receiving the treatment and reducing, the training and effort required of the person giving the treatment.
Prior art massage and body contouring devices employ various means for simulating massage techniques. For example, prior art devices attempt to simulate the kneading or lifting and rolling, of the skin experienced when a petrissage technique is used. Some of these prior art devices use a vacuum means for lifting the skin. Other prior art devices use various types of rollers to lift and knead the skin. The rollers are generally cylindrical in shape and may also be combined with other mechanical or vacuum means for lifting the skin. Other devices employ motorized or mechanically activated rollers which squeeze skin between the rollers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,368 to Guitay discloses an apparatus for massaging the human body comprising in part “two parallel active rollers, preferably driven in rotation by a motor,” the rollers are “mounted inside a manually operated housing.”
U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,323 to Stoughton discloses a “massage apparatus by which pulsating air suction is applied to any selected area of the human body so as to stimulate circulation of the blood. The apparatus includes a bellows which is coupled to a suction cup through an elongated flexible tube.”
U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,322 to Spelio discloses “a variable pulsating vacuum device to transmit rhythmic suction-relaxation manipulative action through tubing to applicators in contact with the facial and neck tissue.”
In PCT international application No. PCT/FR95/00890, Guitay discloses a “massaging apparatus intending to perform massage treatments through an action of suction and mobilization of the skin tissue. It is comprised of parallel rollers . . . mounted inside a casing . . . and between which is created a depression when the apparatus is applied against the patient's body.”
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,665,053, Jacobs discloses “an endermology body massager having at least two rollers spaced from each other in a parallel configuration. The rollers rotate in the same direction and are rotatably mounted movable axes. A vacuum source is connected to the chamber that houses the rollers.”
U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,078 to Fulop discloses “a massager [which] includes an electric motor driven eccentric cam . . . in a housing . . . A moving member . . . is slidably mounted on the housing and is driven by the eccentric cam in a reciprocating, translatory motion relative to the housing.”
Using a roller as a lifting or petrissage element in a body contouring or massage device as disclosed in some of the prior art above can be disadvantageous in that use of rollers increases the manufacturing cost of the device and complicates assembly of the device. Cost and complexity of manufacturing are especially increased for devices employing rollers which are motorized or otherwise mechanically activated. Similarly, maintenance and repair of devices with rollers can increase the overall cost to the purchaser. Devices with moving parts may require regular replacement of the moving parts which malfunction or wear out. Moreover, motorized and mechanized roller devices can be difficult to clean and may require partial disassembly to clean. Some rollers also limit the direction and movement of the device along the skin of the patient, restricting movement of the device to substantially forward and backward movements. In this way, roller devices limit the types of treatments that can be offered using the device and may prove difficult to use.
It has been found that there is discomfort related to prior art designs of massage and body contouring devices. For example, in devices using rollers, the patient's skin may be pinched. As the roller moves along the surface of the skin, the skin can be drawn up along the roller and get caught in the space between the roller and the housing of the device. Where the lifting action of the skin is increased by motorized or mechanically activated rollers or by a vacuum source, the patient's discomfort from pinching may increase. The design of the housing of the device may increase a patient's chances of uncomfortable contact with sharp edges or corners of the housing, such as with a square or angular shaped device. In devices using vacuum suction to lift the skin, if the portion of the device which contacts the patient's skin to create the vacuum seal has sharp edges, the vacuum suction may cause the skin to be pinched along the area of the seal. This is particularly the case when the vacuum suction becomes too strong, and there is no safety release valve to reduce the suction. A patient's skin may also be irritated by the device where the device comes into direct contact with the skin.
Microdermabrasion techniques and systems are also well known to those skilled in the art. A typical dermabrasion system includes a pneumatic drive, such as either a negative pressure system or a positive pressure system, that delivers an ablative material from a supply point to a hand piece, also known as a wand, which has a small aperture to be placed upon a patient's skin during the abrasion process. In the negative pressure system, such as one utilizing a vacuum for pneumatic drive, the closing of the aperture by the skin completes the pneumatic circuit drawing the abrasive material to the skin to perform dermabrasion. The refuse and debris after the abrasive procedure is vacuumed away into a waste storage container for disposal.
Each stage of operation within current dermabrasion systems suffer problems that prevent optimal and efficient operation on a subject or patient. One problem is the handling of the abrasive material at the supply point. Typical supply points utilize abrasive supply containers that are permanently mounted and must be refilled when empty. These containers are usually difficult to access and lead to waste and unnecessary exposure to the abrasive material during filling. Further, due to the dynamics of the content level changing, the systems fail to deliver consistent amounts of abrasive material from the supply containers to the hand piece. As such, the results of the abrasive operation are inconsistent and vary in the length of time normally needed to perform a typical procedure/session. As the container goes from full to empty, performance can suffer severely, with as much as a 75 percent reduction in abrasive concentration in the air stream. Additionally, few, if any, systems are able to utilize all the contents of the supply container before needing refilling.
An additional problem with current supply containers is that they draw upon ambient air. Ambient air is often humid and the moisture therein causes the moisture-sensitive abrasive to agglomerate and subsequently clog the system. This is especially a problem in that most systems utilize a small output aperture that clogs easily, particularly when the abrasive material becomes damp with humidity, leading to clumping and clogging and generally inconsistent delivery of abrasive. Often, the existing systems are induced to employ mechanical or pneumatic means, such as spring-loaded rods or compressed air, to periodically clear the restricted output aperture.
Another part of the abrasive delivery system is an abrasive/concentration control system. Most systems lack such a control system. The control system's purpose is to control the amount of abrasive delivered to the hand piece during operation. Some systems utilize an electronic control that causes pulses resulting in pressure surges and non-uniform delivery of the abrasive. Other systems utilize control systems that are difficult to adjust, hard to reset and fail to provide repeatable consistent results for subsequent treatments.
The hand piece is a critical component of any dermabrasion system. Hand pieces suffer several problems. One problem is that the apertures tend to restrict the flow of the abrasive material to the skin as well as hinder removal of the abraded material and the abrasive during the abrasion procedure. Further, the dermabrasion procedure involves removal of skin and sometimes blood, so there is concern that the use of the same wand from patient to patient is unsanitary and unhealthy. Attempts to make the hand piece more hygienic by having disposable and replaceable wand tips has been unsuccessful as the tips merely prevent contamination at the aperture level without addressing a problem known as back contamination, which occurs when refuse debris within the wand from a previous procedure contaminates the wand tip in spite of the replacement of a fresh tip.
Further, some hand pieces are designed without thought about how the hand piece is to be cleaned. As such, these pieces are difficult to clean and therefore, undesirable for long term use. Also, most hand pieces are expensive to manufacture. They can be heavy and awkward to use, such that the technician suffers discomfort and fatigue during long sessions or over several sessions during the same day. Since the piece needs to be small enough to handle, they often have restricted flow paths that detrimentally affect flow rate and delivery of the abrasive for optimal results and for quick pick up of the waste debris.
Another element of the dermabrasion system includes a waste recovery or accumulation container system. Most systems are permanently mounted and are difficult to access, empty, and clean. The containers collect abrasive dust along with skin cells, and bodily fluids, which may contain microbes or other undesirable elements. As such, the containers must be emptied and cleaned periodically. Failure to clean the container can result in unwanted growths and other hazardous health risks that should be avoided at all times.
The waste accumulation systems often have small exhaust apertures that can easily clog with waste products resulting in restricted air flow within the overall system. Moreover, filter elements are also employed to prevent abrasive and debris out flow into the vacuum source. Such filters are a major source of clogging and reduction of optimal air flow within the entire system, thereby leading to poor dermabrasion results since less abrasive material is being carried within the system at a reduced speed. Similar to the supply system, one solution has been to use back pressure to clear and clean the filters or unplug the clogs in the waste accumulation system, but this adds cost and complexity to the overall design, which can result in mechanical failure, decreased abrasion performance, and increased costs of production and operation.
Accordingly, what is needed is a dermabrasion system and method that overcomes the problems of the prior art. Specifically, what is needed is a dermabrasion system that controls the dispersion of the abrasive material over the entire range of operation uniformly and consistently over the prior art methods. Further, what is needed is a method and system for handling the abrasive material prior to the ablative operation and afterwards during the collection of the contaminated materials. Further still, what is needed is a hand piece that is lightweight and easily cleaned to meet high health safety standards, yet allows for high air flow.